


Shock

by 00AwkwardPenguin00



Series: Dragon of the Yuyan [31]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Big Brother Sokka (Avatar), Gen, Protective Sokka (Avatar), Short, basically just Sokka processing the events of Sacrifice, honestly not super thrilled with this one but it's done and it needed to be written, which means run on sentences and a lot of cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:08:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27897310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/00AwkwardPenguin00/pseuds/00AwkwardPenguin00
Summary: Sokka is trying to wrap his brain around what just happened. He's not entirely sure he's successful.
Relationships: Hakoda & Sokka (Avatar), Hakoda & The Gaang (Avatar), Sokka & The Gaang (Avatar), Sokka & The Southern Water Tribe Warriors
Series: Dragon of the Yuyan [31]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582384
Comments: 234
Kudos: 1917





	Shock

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MuffinLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/gifts).



> Okay, confession time. I've only BARELY started the next installment after this one. _The Mandalorian_ has eaten my brain, and the shiny silver bounty hunter and his tiny green son live rent free in my head. HOWEVER, this series is still ongoing, and I WILL FINISH IT I SWEAR. That being said, I think trying to force myself into a posting schedule is going to make things worse instead of better, so sorry to everyone who's gotten used to regular updates. I did say that we'd see how long it lasted, and I think five(? -ish?) months is a damn good run. Therefore, this series will still be updated on Saturdays, but not EVERY Saturday. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for everyone who's stuck around for so long, and I hope you continue to do so despite the lack of posting schedule. We've still got Book 3 to go!

Ba Sing Se has fallen.

The _Earth Kingdom_ has fallen.

Aang had _died_ , and been brought back to life.

Iroh's been captured.

Sokka clings to Appa's back, Toph clinging to _him_ , and tries to process the amount of crazy that has just occurred in the last _three hours_. It's pretty hard, considering that he's mostly concentrating on hanging on to Appa and keeping Toph hanging on as well, and they _really_ need to get Appa a new saddle like, _asap_.

On Toph's other side is Zuko, and if Sokka didn't already have enough to worry about, the firebender's pallor and dazed expression would top the list.

They leave Ba Sing Se behind, looking for all the world like it _hasn't_ just been taken over by a fourteen year old girl in control of the creepiest security forces this side of the Mo Ce Sea, and fly straight southeast. They reach Dad's fleet at Chameleon Bay during the darkest part of the night, and Sokka immediately jumps down to head off the warriors he can see approaching.

"Tuapak! Avalu! Get the Chief, _quick_!" He orders, feeling himself slip back into Chieftain's Heir mode like a pair of well-worn boots. It had been weird, when he'd first reunited with the other warriors––he was the youngest, and objectively the least experienced, but Dad had included him anyway, and it hadn't felt like he'd been humoring the little boy left behind to "protect the village". It had felt like an acknowledgement of his months of experience traveling with Aang, protecting him and learning from Suki and Zuko and the Warriors of the North. He is a true Warrior of the Southern Water Tribe, and his two families need him to prove it now. The Warriors won't trust Zuko without Sokka vouching for him. Hopefully Bato had already broken the ice.

The two warriors skid to a stop and stare as Toph bends a tower up for Katara, still clutching Aang's limp body in her arms, to ride down to the ground. Zuko stands beside her, still ghostly pale and somehow even _more_ silent than normal. Sokka growls at the two men, firmly pushing aside the memories of them teasing him about his height just a few days before.

"Did I fucking _stutter_?" He snaps, and their blue gazes snap to him as they jerk to attention. " _Get the Chief. NOW!_ "

Avalu wheels around and flat out _sprints_ back to the camp, while Tuapak squares his shoulders.

"What do you need, Sokka?" He asks briskly.

"I need a tent, water, any medical supplies you have, and I _need the fucking Chief_ ," Sokka snarls at him, drawing himself up as tall as he can and glaring the older Warrior in the eye.

Tuapak nods sharply and turns on his heel. "This way," he says, and Sokka could kiss the guy, he really could, but he's a bit preoccupied with helping Katara drag Aang along.

"C'mon you three, let's go," he hears Toph order, and it's definitely a relief to know that she's got everyone else wrangled while he's otherwise distracted.

Tuapak leads them to the Chief's own tent, which is surprisingly empty. He and Katara lower Aang down onto Dad's own pallet of furs, and a barrel of water appears beside his sister's elbow. She wastes no time in bending it around her hands and getting to work healing the absolutely gruesome burn on Aang's back. He's got other injuries as well that Sokka can see, but he knows enough about healing from Katara to know that the burn is top priority.

Satisfied that his master waterbending healer sister has Aang covered, Sokka turns to the Earth King and his bear, and Zuko and Toph, all looking for him to tell them what to do next. He can tell Zuko's completely checked out, not in the way that means he's trapped in whatever awful memories lurk in his head and swallow him up at the slightest provocation, just in that _okay, I've hit my shit limit today, I'm out of here_ way that Sokka _wishes_ he could indulge in right now. He can't blame the poor guy though, he had to fight for his life against his sister and then abandon his uncle to her tender mercies, that's seriously messed up and he definitely deserves some processing time. So it's Sokka's turn to carry the group braincell, that's fine, probably better him than Zuko right now anyway, since he doubts that whatever royal education included any in depth study of Water Tribe culture. The Earth King is glancing around the tent with a frankly hilarious expression of oblivious curiosity. Sokka kind of wonders if Long Feng had been doing his Dai Li mindbending tricks on the poor guy, or if he just really is that socially inept. Toph's the only one who looks like she's actually paying attention, but she also looks _exhausted_ , and Sokka realizes that it's actually the _middle of the night_ and they've been going… actually Sokka has no idea when the last time he slept was, much less the last time _Toph_ slept, especially considering the whole "kidnapped by bounty hunters hired by her dad to drag her home" thing.

Fuck Sokka needs some sleep.

"C'mon, let's give Katara some space," he says instead, ushering everyone back to the main area of the tent. Toph flops down on one of the polar bear dog pelts, dragging Zuko down with her. The Earth King gingerly folds himself down onto a tiger-seal pelt, running his fingers through the fur curiously. Sokka's too wired to sit, so he paces in front of the tent flap until it opens and reveals _oh thank Tui and La and Yue and Agni and whoever else is listening_ his dad.

He grabs Dad around the waist in the tightest hug he can manage with arms noodle-y from exhaustion, and can’t help the sigh that escapes him when Dad’s arms wrap around his shoulders and squeeze back.

“Sokka, what happened?” Dad asks.

Sokka talks. He tells Dad _everything_ , introduces Zuko and the Earth King (and tries to ignore how Dad and some of the other warriors tense when Sokka calls Zuko _Fire Prince_ ), and when he’s done he feels kinda like someone wrung him out like a washed shirt on laundry day but at least now Sokka’s not the only one carrying the braincell anymore, _thank La_.

Dad turns to Bato. “Tell everyone to start breaking camp and get to the ships. We need to be in the water by sunrise. Also, gather volunteers willing to work with Sokka and Zuko on a special mission. Have them gather on my ship."

"Yes Chief," Bato replies immediately, practically sprinting out of the tent. All the other warriors follow him, some of the older ones sending suspicious glances back at Zuko as they go.

Dad turns to the Earth King. "Your Majesty, do you have any plans going forward? We don't have much to spare but we'll give you any help we can."

The Earth King sighs. "Please, call me Kuei, Chief Hakoda. And to answer your question… I don't know. I feel so stupid and foolish, I don't know anything about this war, about my own country, and I just lost it. I… I need to learn. I need to see my country, my people, for myself. I think… I think I'm going to explore on my own for a while. Thank you for your generosity, but you should save what you have for your men and for the Avatar."

Dad nods. "I understand, Kuei. We'll provide you with a map and some money to help you on your way, as a gesture of assistance from the Southern Water Tribe to the Earth Kingdom. If I may make a suggestion?"

Kuei looks like a man desperate for anyone to tell him what he should do. "Please, I value any wisdom you may have for me."

Dad smiles gently. "Don't tell anyone who you are. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat those they see as beneath them."

Kuei bows his head. "Thank you for your advice, Chief Hakoda," he says formally.

Dad turns to Sokka, after glancing at Toph (who's now sacked out fast asleep) and Zuko (who has checked back in but still seems really down, and actually kind of nervous if his darting eyes and white knuckled grip on his knees are any indication) with some concern.

"You kids rest here for now," he says gently. "You've been through a lot the last couple of days. I'll let you know when it's time to get on the ships."

"Thanks, Dad," Sokka says, standing when his father does and giving him another hug. Dad pats his back and heads out of the tent, and Sokka sidles over to Zuko, who seems to have started breathing again.

_**Hey buddy,**_ he signs, keeping his movements gentle and his expression open. _**This may seem like a stupid question, but are you okay?**_

Zuko finally lets go of his knees, resting his elbows on them instead and placing his face in his hands. His shoulders shake, very minutely, and Sokka gently lays a hand on Zuko's back.

Zuko turns and grabs Sokka in the tightest hug the firebender has ever given him, burying his face in Sokka's neck and silently soaking his tunic with tears. Sokka wraps his own arms around his best friend and holds him tight, wishing not for the first time that Zuko felt safe enough to cry aloud the way he obviously needs to.

Eventually the poor guy cries himself to sleep, and Sokka entertains the thought of doing the same for about half a second before Katara pokes her head out from behind the sleeping area screen. She looks awful, pale and exhausted, her hair wrestled into a frizzy mess of a half-assed braid to keep it out of her face. She glances around the tent nervously before staggering over to collapse against the side of Sokka not currently occupied by a firebending archer-ninja.

_**How’s Aang?**_ Sokka signs, not wanting to risk waking anyone up by asking out loud.

Katara wipes wet, red eyes with a trembling hand. _**Still alive, thank the spirits,**_ she replies shakily. _**He’s a mess, and I have no idea when he’ll actually wake up, but he’s alive, and that’s all that matters.**_

Sokka nods. _**Tell me again exactly what happened.**_ Katara had given him the bare bones during the flight to the camp, but now Sokka wants details. Signing is awkward when one arm is trapped under a sleeping firebender, but he’d rather be awkward than wake either Toph or Zuko.

Katara does so, leaving nothing out, and _fucking La_ if Sokka didn’t already feel sorry for Zuko. No wonder the guy fell apart so completely— there’s a very distinct possibility that Iroh’s a dead man as soon as he hits Fire Nation soil. Zuko could lose the only blood relative he has left who actually gives a single damn about him. Sokka holds his brother warrior closer and prays to Yue to protect the old man.

And Aang… Katara truly pulled off a minor miracle, healing him with the Spirit Water. Sokka remembers Zuko after Omashu, how terrified he’d been after realizing Azula had learned to bend lightning. He’d been bound and determined to turn Aang into a firebending Master practically overnight, in an effort to figure out some way to protect the kid from Insta-Kill lightning. It wasn’t until Iroh had taught him that redirection move that the guy had truly relaxed (relaxed by Zuko-standards, that is: he’d drilled that move so deep into Aang’s head that all anyone had to do was simply say or sign the word “lightning” and Aang would snap into stance and perform the move regardless of whatever he’d been doing the moment before. This had resulted in twenty dropped teacups, five choking near-misses, thirty-two incidents of flying food, eight bending mishaps, and one memorable instance of Katara nearly getting her eye poked out), confident that Aang would be safe from Princess Zap-Happy.

_So much for that_ , Sokka thinks bitterly. There’s a split second where he indulges his rage at Zuko for not considering that his evil sister might _shoot someone in the back_. His little brother almost _died_ because of that oversight. _The fucking Avatar cycle almost broke_ because a psychotic little bitch _shot Aang out of the fucking sky_ when no one was paying attention. Because they _hadn’t considered that she was crazy enough_ to look at an Avatar in the full throes of the Avatar State _and shoot lightning into his back_.

Sokka takes a deep breath in and releases it, and releases all of the anger along with it, letting it flow away on the tide. What’s done is done, and now they have to focus on both the immediate and distant future. Evacuating the camp. Figuring out how to go about the eclipse invasion. Getting Aang healed up and back training.

He must fall asleep at some point, because he wakes up with both arms full of pins and needles and both Zuko and Katara cuddled up to his sides. Dad's sitting across the firepit from the three of them, studying Zuko with a thoughtful eye. He smiles when he sees that Sokka’s awake, wan and tired.

“We’re almost ready to depart,” he says, as quietly as he can, but Zuko still tenses at the unfamiliar voice. Sokka taps out _safe_ on his back, over and over, until their silent firebending ninja-archer relaxes again and his eyes flutter open gently, instead of snapping awake and shooting fire (they’d all learned _very_ quickly not to startle Zuko awake).

“Hey Jerkbender,” Sokka says brightly, as Zuko sits up and stretches like a pygmy puma.

“Good morning, Prince Zuko,” Dad greets him, cordial but cool.

Zuko flinches, but turns to Dad and signs **_Good morning, Chief H-A-K-O-D-A_**. Sokka has to hide a wince at his brother warrior’s neutral expression as he signs— like a soldier reporting to a higher-up, none of the guy’s typical shy friendliness. Knowing Zuko, he’s probably reading the distrust and wariness Dad and the warriors have for him like Sokka reads schematics and scrolls.

Dad glances over at Sokka, and he realizes that he’s cloud-watching when he should be translating. “Oh, sorry Dad, Zuko says good morning.” He smiles sheepishly at Zuko, who manages to take his wary gaze off of Dad for the two seconds it takes to roll his eyes at Sokka. Sokka will take that as a positive sign, and sticks his tongue out at Zuko in return.

Dad smiles briefly at them. “As I said, we’re almost ready to depart, we just need to get you kids on a boat and pack up this last tent. And we need to hurry, Ukpik spotted quite a few Fire Nation ships heading our way."

Sokka shakes Katara's shoulder while Zuko takes his life into his hands to wake up Toph. "Any ideas on how to get past them?"

"A few," Dad replies, starting to pack up the furs and other odds and ends. "We'll talk more on the boat. Can we move Aang?"

"I'll move him," Katara snaps, glowering at Dad. Sokka blinks and shares a baffled look with his father. What crawled up Katara's butt and died?

They send the Earth King on his way with his pet bear (and Sokka’s still having some trouble with the bear thing, despite visual evidence). Dad sets the five of them up in his own cabin on his boat, and soon they've set sail, the camp on the shores of Chameleon Bay disappearing like it had never been.

It's still dark out, but there's a band of deep magenta in the east, and Zuko's looking perkier (and yet somehow even more nervous) with every moment. Dad gathers everyone on deck (except for Katara, who insists with maybe-not-so-surprising vehemence on staying with Aang) to discuss their next move.

Which turns out to be stealing a Fire Nation ship.

His dad is a freaking genius.

**Author's Note:**

> Next time: **Recruitment**


End file.
